I had two beautiful births using The Bradley Method(R). I taught the Bradley Method(R) from 2002 through 2009. Why am I now seeking accredidation through the International Childbirth Education Association? How will my class differ? Why should you take my class instead of a Bradley(R) class, Birthing from Within, or a class at Great Starts? Well, don’t take my word, read my testimonials.
- I teach a series of 9 extremely intense, focused classes.
- Classes are a major commitment. You are expected to do reading, writing & research; interview your care provider to make sure she is an ideal match for you; examine your diet and be prepared to make changes; participate actively in class; prepare snacks to share based on foods important to pregnancy; examine your emotional readiness for birth — both mother and partner; and do regular physical exercise — both mother and partner.
- My curriculum and workbook reflect the state of childbirth practices specific to the Puget Sound region and include references to up-to-date websites and articles. When my workbook makes a factual assertion, it is backed up with a reference to a reliable, up to date medical study.
- I rely on diet information out of Bastyr University.
- I pull in relaxation exercises from a variety of sources.
- My class is laugh-out-loud funny, and often R rated. Dads will stay awake for this class.
If you find a Bradley(R) class in your area that meets your needs and schedule, it is still one of the most thorough, thoughtful childbirth education classes you can take and I encourage you to contact any of the local teachers and enquire about their classes.
How does my class differ from Great Starts? I haven’t taken any of their classes, but I am an enormous fan of Penny Simpkin and if she approves of it, it must be good. If you find a class and get into it, please, enjoy! I particularly love her Three Rs video and her concept of Relaxation, Rhythm, and Ritual. Great Starts is a tremendous resource in our community and I only wish I had time in my life to take all of their classes, too.
How does my class differ from Hypnobirthing(R)? I can’t really say. I used hypnosis during my pregnancy with Rebecca and found it really funky and useful. I had such a perfect birth with my first child, I didn’t think I had any bad repressed memories to get rid of. But, I had attended some rather traumatic labors before I got pregnant with my second child, and it turns out I was keeping a lot of tension about them. I encourage all moms who have experienced sexual assault, prior pregnancy loss, or other traumas that might cause them to hold tension in their pelvic floor to seek hypnosis. During many of the labors I have attended (my own included), I have observed moms enter a deep meditative state akin to hypnosis. So I know it can be done. I call it “entering the zone” or “Mommy’s cone of silence.”
My one tiny comment about hypnosis is that it sort of gives you the impression that labor ought not to hurt. When a hypnobirthing mom gets into labor and it does hurt, she may find that is really crappy. I prefer to get it out there up front that yeah, in fact, labor is super intense and can hurt, sometimes quite a bit, but that the pain is for a purpose — it sends us a message that it is time to change something! Some area midwives do complain that hypnobirthing moms have unrealistic expectations and will sometimes refuse to push, preferring to let the uterus push without mom’s efforts in addition. The pushing stage is so powerful, I have known midwives to get in a mom’s face and say “Sit up and push the baby OUT!”
That said, their meditation/relaxation techniques appear superior to any other I have seen.
I differ from all the area hospital classes in that while we share a goal of Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby … I prefer to flip the 90% epidural, 10% unmedicated usually by accident ratio on its head. I can’t claim that 90% of my clients go completely unmedicated. But I do have about a 70% unmedicated rate and a 20% cesarean rate in my clientele. I can vouch that every single cesarean in my clientele was absolutely a life-saving one, not an “Oh crap, we’re bored, we don’t know what’s going on” one. I believe that 95% of the epidurals among my clientele are also evidence based medicine. There are one or two lingering doubts in my mind, but I’ll never know.
Now that I have extolled every other class in Seattle except mine, what makes my class stand out?
- It’s really funny.
- It gets the coaches/partners/dads/grandmas/roommates/whoever is supporting the mom really involved, excited, and activated.
- It thoroughly prepares the couple for whatever may come down the pike. You are ready for the glorious, messy, smelly, powerful, overwhelming unmedicated birth of your baby. You are ready to breastfeed on demand and protect your baby’s umbilicus. You are ready to catch the baby on the side of I-5 with nothing but a clean t-shirt and a bottle of hand sanitizer and a cell phone. BUT, you are also ready to make informed decisions about almost every intervention that could be presented to you, up to and including epidural and cesarean.
- You understand the concept of evidence based medicine and intuition. You know when to trust your birth team, when to question them. But more importantly, you trust yourselves as partners to work through the birth together and come out the other side as parents, together.